Sarah Cunnington
Sarah Cunnington is a main character (and the central protagonist) in QIA. She is an Agent in the London Field Team. Biography Before joining the QIA Sarah was born and raised in the Cornish village of Lower Penbridge. ("Home") Sarah speaks twenty-three languages fluently, leading to her recruitment as a translator for the The London Hub. Prior to this, she worked in an office job at Corby Cosmetics. During her early life, Sarah suffered from mild cognitive impairment, causing blackouts of varying lengths. This has apparently been cured now, however, following her first Jump. Sarah went to Exeter University where she studied Modern Foreign Languages. She moved to London in 2016, and briefly starred in the pilot for a children's television show in which she played a French frog. ("Manchester") 24th Birthday On the night of her 24th birthday in 2017, Sarah slept with Patrick Kearney in the men's room in a Soho nightclub, Club 47. However, immediately afterwards, Kearney rejected her, having got what he wanted. The trauma of this incident forced Sarah to make an unwilling Jump, first to a place of darkness and confusion where she was physically tortured and cut by a terrifying individual known only as Ash, and then to the front door of her sister Louise's house ("Home"). After staying with Louise and Phil for a week to recover from her injuries ("Ethan"). The details of this night were, according to Mike Duncan, sent to The London Hub by The Eye, prior to Sarah's arrival. Director Hall referred to them while trying to persuade her to join the QIA. ("Sarah") Christmas 2018 While staying with Louise and Phil for Christmas in 2018, Sarah was almost raped by a drunken Phil on Christmas Eve. Although she managed to subdue him in time, the incident had a marked effect on her. After joinng the QIA Recruitment Sarah's boss at Corby, Sean Herron, informed her of an opportunity for some paid translation work at a company called Beale's. Upon arriving there, however, she met with Director Brent Hall, who told her that he wanted to recruit her into the time-travelling agency known as the QIA. At first sceptical, Sarah nonetheless was convinced about giving it a chance after meeting Agent Ethan Taylor. ("Sarah") Training After agreeing to join the QIA, Sarah underwent combat training with Agent Tom Burt. She also undertook her first Jump, with support from Ethan and Cian Rose, one of the Hub's Keepers, and beat the former record time for a first Jump (Sarah did it in less than two minutes, while the previous record had been seven and a half). ("Berlin") Berlin mission (see main article: Berlin 1933 Mission) Sarah's first mission was to help stop a time-travelling assassin from murdering Adolf Hitler in 1933, something that she was initially very dubious about. After the team were successful in capturing the would-be assassin, Sarah witnessed the murder of her commanding officer, Captain Chris Darby, by her own future self. ("Berlin") During the subsequent debriefing, despite having every intention to tell the truth and face up to the consquences, Sarah lied about not knowing who killed Darby. ("Manchester") Glasgow Mission (see main article: Glasgow 2017/2019 Mission) While on a mission in 2017 to ensure that the timeline remained intact while Ethan and Hafiz attempted to convert Reclaimer collaborator Donald MacKenzie, Sarah secretly objected to just standing by and watching the original history unfold, in which MacKenzie's son Daniel would be shot and killed by thief Adam Conley. Therefore, in breach of protocol, Sarah used an amp that she had obtained from the Manchester mission to Home Jump with Daniel, bringing him forward in his own timeline by two years. In spite of Hall informing her that the consequences of this could have been disastrous - she had, in essence, created a quantum infraction herself - he relented on the grounds that custody of Daniel in 2019 would give him leverage to persuade MacKenzie to defect to the QIA. However, while he was being escorted back to London by Hafiz and Ethan, their car was ambushed and MacKenzie was shot and killed. ("Glasgow") Recruitment of Agent Gallou Sarah was tasked for the two-step mission of recruiting Enora Gallou into the QIA; first of all she carried out the Auxerre mission to briefly meet a six-year-old Enora, then later, along with Agent Burt, she met with Enora again in the present day, where she convinced her to join the agency. While on this mission, Sarah recognised Jack Harringer from the Manchester mission, and discovered that he is also a time-traveller. ("Paris") Cornwall After her brother-in-law Phil assaulted Louise, Sarah returned to her home village of Lower Penbridge to help deal with the family crisis. Although Louise and Nicole are now living with Sarah and Louise's parents, Irene and Simon, Sarah did manage to persuade Phil to start attending AA meetings and to go sober, by threatening to go to the police about his attempting to rape her the previous Christmas. ("Home") Erik Draper, The Echelon and translation of the Medical Journal Upon returning to London, Sarah was interviewed by visiting Vice-President Erik Draper, who told her that she is greatly respected by the Echelon in Geneva, though some also view her as something to be studied due to her potential abilities as a Natural. To that end, he even offered her a job at CERN, though she declined. Draper also asked her for a copy of the translation work she was doing, of a strange medieval medical journal, but in consultation with Director Hall she provided him with an erroneous copy instead. Spitalfields and Moorfields (see main articles: Spitalfields 1807 Mission, Moorfields 1811 Mission and Spitalfields 1809 Mission) While in Spitalfields investigating Mary Bowman, Sarah asked the seamstress if she had ever heard of "the crimson emerald" (she hadn't), to which Agent Gallou objected on the grounds that it had not been part of their plan. Following the information gathered after the Spitalfields mission, Sarah was admitted to Bethlem Hospital in 1811, going undercover as a patient in order to continue pursuing Mary and the mystery of the crimson emerald. ("Mary") After being drugged, beaten and abused by the apothecary, James Crick, Sarah found herself disoriented and unable to Home Jump. In addition, despite no warnings from the Eye, Sarah became part of documented history as 'Elizabeth Hughes', and Hafiz and the others discovered that the changes to the timeline now included Elizabeth's imminent death. Meanwhile Sarah continued her mission and made a deal with Philip Walker, the hospital's steward; in exchange for being allowed to see Mary Bowman, she submitted to a terrifying experimental procedure of Walker's involving a crude form of electroshock therapy. The following morning, Sarah was taken to see Mary, who identified Sarah herself as "the crimson emerald", but when the two of them came into physical contact it caused an unexpected and violent reactionary force that triggered an awakening within Mary. ("Elizabeth") Afterwards, compounded by the interfering efforts of Tom and Ethan, Walker condemned Sarah to death, but left her first at the mercy of Crick. ("Elizabeth") After being severely beaten and almost raped by the apothecary, Sarah was rescued by Ethan, who Home Jumped with her. It was later revealed by Mary that Sarah herself is the crimson emerald, although she does not know what that means. After a period of initial recovery at the Princess Grace hospital, during which she also learned that the Eye seems to be having difficulties in 'seeing' her, Sarah joined the team on a return mission to see William Wakefield in 1809, during which they were finally able to track and capture Jacob Dorody. ("Bedlam") Geneva Sarah was alerted to Geneva's interest in her by Hall. Apparently, there had been several irregularities concerning her while she was on missions whereby the Eye had been unable to predict her actions as it normally did. These incidents included the murder of Captain Darby, her Home Jumping with Daniel MacKenzie, and what happened with Mary in Bethlem. Consequently, she had been summoned to Geneva. While there, she met Erik Draper again, who this time told her that he suspected there is a mole within the London Hub. He also offered her a job again. Later, Sarah was forced to undergo a series of brutal tests, including a forced Jump back to 1811, where she witnessed again the incident between herself and Mary. She was eventually rescued by Ethan, to whom she later told about Draper's suspicions, and about her future involvement in Darby's murder. ("Geneva") Cornwall Mission (see main article: Cornwall 2019 Mission) In late December 2019, the London Hub received word of a Code 11 infraction taking place just two days prior, in Lower Penbridge. Despite Hall's objections, citing the Recusal Protocol, Sarah went on the mission anyway. While there, acting expressly against orders, she and Tom headed into the village to investigate and inadvertently bumped into Phil, which meant that they had to go and have dinner with her parents and Louise. This led to a misunderstanding about Tom being her boyfriend (with Louise recalling the lie she'd told during her last visit about 'Tom the bodybuilder'). The next day, she agreed to stay at Burwood Farm with Ethan to avoid any further complications; however while there, the two of them were attacked and rendered unconscious by Aleksander Volkov, who threatened to kill Ethan unless she Jumped, live on the internet, twenty-four hours into the future, therefore proving time-travel exists and creating a worldwide panic. Although Sarah was determined that she had to do it, Ethan persuaded her not to give in, and the two of them kissed, and Sarah confessed her feelings to him. Just seconds before Volkov's deadline, however, they were rescued by Hafiz, acting on intelligence gathered by Dan Hamilton. ("Cornwall") Relationship with Ethan Since meeting Ethan, Sarah had gradually begun to fall in love with him. This was finally realised during the incident in the basement of Burwood Farm ("Cornwall"). After confessing her feelings to Hafiz, she found herself on a romantic date with Ethan during their subsequent mission to Paris. After the date, realising that Enora was planning to murder Louis White, she and Ethan tracked Enora to White's house and managed to convince her not to act ("Enora"). On Christmas Eve 2019, Sarah and Ethan went on a date and afterwards returned to Sarah's flat. Things progressed towards the bedroom, but just as they were on the verge of consummating their relationship, Ethan received a text message and stopped his advances; he told Sarah that he had made a mistake, that he had a girlfriend, and that he had to leave - which he did. Distraught at this sudden and wholly unexpected turn of events, Sarah made an involuntary Jump back to the night of her 24th birthday, in 2017, arriving just as her 2017 self had Jumped to her sister's house. Angry and confused, Sarah found Patrick Kearney still in the club and assaulted him, before then proceeding to hunt down the Ethan Taylor of 2017. However, when she found him she found herself unable to do anything, and so she Home Jumped back to 2019. ("Ethan") Status as a Natural When Sarah was first recruited into the QIA, she was told that she was suspected to be a 'Natural' ("Sarah", "Berlin"), although it wasn't until later that she began to find out what that meant ("Home"). Since experiencing her first Jump, Sarah later came to realise that she had not been having her period. After speaking to Doctor Coran about it, she found out that Jumping can, in rare cases, affect the female menstrual cycle, and that while this could just get back to normal in time, given her status as a Natural it was quite possible that the consequences of this would be that Sarah would be unable to conceive a child ("Ethan"). Relationships Tasneem Hafiz Sarah very quickly developed a close friendship with Hafiz, and moved in with her shortly after joining the QIA. ("Glasgow") The two of them frequently go out together, including on one occasion going on a double date with Ted and Ted's friend, Joshua. Sarah also greatly respects Hafiz in a professional capacity. They frequently engage in friendly banter, but this also has a more serious, supportive side ("Paris"). After learning of her feelings for Ethan, Hafiz went out of her way to get the two of them together, culminating in a romantic date in Paris ("Enora"). However, not long after, Ethan revealed to Sarah that he had a girlfriend, and dumped her; Hafiz was the one that Sarah subsequently turned to for support. ("Ethan") Ethan Taylor Sarah took an instant liking to Ethan, who gave her a lot of support and friendship during her first few weeks in the QIA. From as early as her first mission, she began to develop feelings for him ("Sarah"), considering him as sexy ("Manchester") and even feeling jealous of him mentioning other women, even in passing ("Glasgow"). Gradually her feelings grew even stronger, and by the time she finally went out with Ethan and Cian - albeit in a platonic way - she even tried (drunkenly) luring him into her bed ("Mary"). After he rescued her from Bethlem Hospital, and she spent some time recovering from her injuries and reflecting on things, she finally was able to admit to herself that she was in love with him. ("Bedlam") After her ordeal in Geneva, Sarah trusted Ethan enough to tell him about witnessing her future self murdering Darby. Ethan reassured her that she had done nothing wrong yet, and that together they would find a way to solve the mystery. ("Geneva") While the two of them were held hostage by Aleksander Volkov in Burwood Farm, Sarah finally confessed her feelings to Ethan, and they had their first kiss ("Cornwall") and subsequently had a romantic date in Paris involving the opera, a candle-lit dinner and a moonlight stroll along the Seine ("Enora"). A week later, following another date on Christmas Eve, the two of them went back to Sarah's flat and almost had sex; however at the last moment Ethan received a text message and told Sarah that he had made a mistake and that he had a girlfriend. Without staying to explain himself, he left, leaving Sarah extremely distraught and confused. ("Ethan") Tom Burt Initially feeling that Tom was gruff and intimidating, especially during their training sessions, Sarah soon came to respect and admire him ("Sarah", "Berlin", "Paris"). After she broke protocol and Home Jumped with Daniel MacKenzie, rather than being angry with her, Tom insinuated that, being a father himself, he might have done the same, and he reassured her that they are a team and that they act together. ("Glasgow") Enora Gallou Sarah likes and respects Agent Gallou, and often feels responsible for well-being given that she's the newest recruit, and that it was Sarah who recruited her ("Paris", "Home"). Although Sarah feels Enora still has much to learn, she seems willing to try and teach her. ("Mary") During the Paris 1994 mission, Sarah realised that Enora was planning on killing Louis White, the man who would - eleven years later - con Enora's father, leading to him committing suicide, she and Ethan tracked Enora down and convinced her not to go through with it. They also agreed to go through with the mission, even though Enora had faked it, in order to maintain Enora's alibi. ("Enora") Chris Darby Sarah and Darby seemed to get off to a poor start right from the beginning, due mostly to Darby's poor treatment of her. She tried her best to get on with him professionally, but his brash, often bullying behaviour made this difficult. Nonetheless, Sarah was devastated at witnessing Darby's murder, at the hands of none other than her own future self, and has been living with the guilt ever since. ("Sarah", "Berlin", et al.) Brent Hall Sarah respects her new boss, but is often unnerved by her inability to read his emotions or intentions. ("Home"). However, she has shown that she trusts his judgement and advice, as demonstrated when she provided Erik Draper with a falsified translation of the medical journal. ("Mary") Dan Hamilton Given Hamilton's close friendship with Chris Darby, and the fact that Darby died during Sarah's first mission, Hamilton instinctively blamed Sarah for Darby's death, leading to an immediate dislike of her from him. ("Manchester") Phil Harris Sarah has had an uneasy relationship with her brother-in-law, especially since he attempted to rape her on Christmas Eve 2018. In spite of this, she helped him clean up his act and start attending AA meetings, mostly for the sake of her sister Louise and her niece Nicole ("Home"). Jack Harringer Sarah has a strange fascination for Jack, especially since he kissed her without explanation just before he escaped hers and Tom's custody. ("Paris") Erik Draper After meeting Erik Draper for the first time, Sarah was a littled overawed by him, especially when he told her that she was something of a celebrity among the QIA, and after offering her a job in Geneva. Jacob Dorody During the 1809 mission, Sarah and the team captured Dorody. However, before he was apprehended, he made it clear to her that he knows her future self, and made reference to someone called "Xuē", who would supposedly help her understand about her future. Appearances Season One Trivia Sarah is known to tuck a loose stand of hair, which she always wears in a ponytail, behind her ear when she is nervous. ("Sarah") She received a D+ in History, and her teacher was called Mister McNeil. ("Sarah") She speaks twenty-three languages fluently. ("Sarah") She went to Exeter University to study Modern Foreign Lamguages for three years. ("Manchester") As of "Glasgow", Sarah now shares a flat in Hammersmith with Hafiz. She believes herself to be good at reading peoples' characters, although she is less confident in doing so when it comes to Director Hall. ("Home") Prior to the events of "Bedlam", Sarah had never broken any bones ("Ethan"). Sarah is portrayed by Gillian Taylor for photographic appearances, and by Helen Cooke for vocal performances.Category:Characters